Travelling in any form is enjoyable, but would anyone disagree if we said there’s a habit of always doing the same thing, such as lying on a beach or exploring a European city?
Undoubtedly, these activities are enjoyable, but there are countless other ways to discover the world. If you’ve grown tired of the same old, same old holidays, consider some of our suggestions below, which provide over a dozen different travel options. You might not fancy all of them, but a few will grab your interest.
Throw a Dart
You’ve likely got a long list of destinations you’d like to visit, but the problem with building up these places in your head is that you travel there with expectations. You perceive the goal from the perspective you’ve already established.
Take, say, Berlin. You’d see the cool bars, art, etc. that make it the mecca of Hipsterville. There’d be confirmation bias. Perhaps you could consider selecting a destination you are unfamiliar with.
We’ve hinted at ‘throwing a dart at the map’ in the heading, but you could see where it’d be cheap to travel to and turn up, even if you know nothing about it. You’ll be able to trust your impressions.
Set Yourself Rules
Travelling these days is wonderfully accessible, but you don’t always need to emphasise convenience and ease. Everything was much more complicated back in the old days, and isn’t there something appealing about that? So if you’re looking for adventure and a challenge, consider setting yourself some rules.
For example, you could say that you’re going to travel from your home to your destination without flying or that you’re going to mix up the usual accommodation you opt for.
If you usually stay in hotels, choose a hostel, or vice versa. It’ll make you rethink what you thought you knew about travelling.
Explore Your Backyard
There’s an idea that travel means heading to the airport and jetting off to a country that speaks a language different from your own, but this is not the case. In the olden days, it would take people days to reach areas that we can now get to in a couple of hours by train. Were they travelling?
Of course they were. So journeying can be whatever you want it to be. You’ve probably never seen many points of interest within simple driving distance of your house. The next time you feel the urge to travel, explore the entire country; it won’t take long to discover a destination worth visiting.
Under the Night Sky
Camping is one of life’s most underrated activities. It’s cheap, challenging, and great fun—provided with the right company—and helps reconnect with nature.
While it can get slightly more tricky during autumn and winter and spring and summer, it can provide one of the year’s weekends. If you spend all your time in urban areas, then a trip to the countryside and a night under the stars will boost you like nothing else can.
Having a good time doesn’t always require five-star hotels and constant convenience.
A Roof Over Your Head
We understand, however, that not everyone fancies spending a night in a tent, sleeping on the floor. However, this doesn’t imply that you can’t enjoy your vacation in the vast outdoors! Many options give you a half-camping, half-comfort experience, such as a travel trailer. Invest in the Rockwood Mini 2109s, and you’ll have a comfortable living space that you can tow behind your vehicle.
Then it’s simply a matter of picking your destination, driving there, and then moving inside the trailer for some easy, fun living. The bonus of this type of travel is that it’s not weather-dependent. Camping can be pretty grim when it’s raining. You can stay warm inside, play games, and watch the rainfall when you have a trailer.
Volunteering Options
We believe a holiday should be about making ourselves happy or just being as comfortable as possible. There’s another option, though! You can give back, learn something, and have fun, all by volunteering. Look at websites like Helpx and Workaway and browse their options.
The volunteer program is also an affordable way to travel. You’ll be given free accommodation and food in exchange for four to five hours of work, though some hosts in poorer countries ask for a small daily donation. You could live the sweet outdoor life in the south of France without spending a penny. Nice!
House Swapping
If you own a home, why not swap houses with someone else to learn more about a different culture? Here’s how it works. They get your keys for a set period and move into your house. You get their keys and move into their home. This arrangement allows you to: A) enjoy more space; B) experience a destination like a local resident. If you live in a destination people want to visit, you’ll have no problem finding someone for a temporary exchange. For more information, check out the film ‘The Holiday’.
Slow Travel
Have you noticed how everything’s rushed these days? Some people go on holiday and cram in so much that they need to recover when they get back home. That doesn’t seem like a sensible thing. So let’s slow things down a bit. Instead of doing a whistle-stop tour of, say, Spain, why not spend your entire two-week holiday getting to know just one of its cities, such as Seville?
You’ll be able to glean a much more profound understanding of how the city works if you slow down and immerse yourself in local life for a more extended period.
With a Theme
Travelling to a place and working through the most important attractions is easy. But if you have no interest in art or history, why would you spend your precious spare time walking around art and history museums just because a guidebook tells you they’re magnificent?
Instead, do the things you love. Those activities can form the basis of your trip. If you’re a food lover, then a food tour of Italy makes sense. If you’re a literature fan, following in the footsteps of Hemingway through Paris and Spain might be for you (be warned: this journey will include drinking in many bars).
Digital Detox
We spend so much of our time connected to the digital world, which rarely lets up when we’re travelling. When everything seems Instagram-worthy, it’s tempting to take pictures. But to break from your everyday life, consider a digital detox.
It can not be very comforting to go without the internet for a week—especially when you need to find how to get somewhere—but it’s nearly always worth it. You’ll find that you push yourself to do more things and discover more by accident just because you didn’t have all the answers right in front of you.
Friends and Family
We usually go travelling with the same old faces. There is nothing wrong with that! But it’s worthwhile mixing things up now and again.
For example, if you’re over eighteen, it’s probably been some time since you went on a holiday with your family. Why not pick a destination everyone will love and spend quality time together? Sometimes it can be challenging to organise, but it will be worth it.
Go, Solo
Conversely, when was the last time you took a solo trip? People have a phobia of doing anything without someone by their side, but there are plenty of benefits to branching out and flying solo. You will be out of your comfort zone; in fact, you may question your choice for the first few days. But good things will come from it. Without a friend to lean on, you’ll do what you like and talk to more strangers.
For a Cultural Event
There are plenty of fascinating things going on worldwide; why not build your travel adventures around one of them?
For example, you could hit up Rio’s carnival, Chinese New Year, or Mardi Gras in New Orleans. You’ll see one of life’s incredible sights and have your itinerary sorted without trying.
Travelling is an adventure! Try one of the above methods of seeing the world, and you’ll be on your way to seeing it through a different lens, one that’s just as fun—if not more so—than traditional travel.
